Christmas Ornament Ideas

Dough Ornaments
2 cups flour
1 cup of salt
2 tablespoons of Vegetable oil
1/3 - 1 cup water

Mix flour and salt together. Add oil. Add water until flour becomes dough like. Cut dough with cookie cutters. Be creative. Add ornament holder (Those metal tree hangs) by sticking it through the top of ornament so it is in the dough and concealed. Or puncture dough with ice pic and after backed, add ribbon (hang on tree from ribbon). Put on cookie sheet and bake for about an hour (sometimes more) on 250. Remove from oven and let cool. When cool, paint (make sure you use gloss craft paint, or metallic, they yield the best results). You can add wiggly eyes, and be creative. We write our family's name on the back and year. We give out over 100 a year, and my cost is under 5 dollars. They are great for teachers, doctors, therapists, mail men, family members. -- Julie de Rose, CA

Christmas Ball Ornaments
You can buy the ball Christmas ornaments from any craft store. They are clear and undecorated. I bought glitter in Christmas colors and little stars and stuff to stick in them. You can also put paint inside of them to make designs that way. Then i wrapped the top of them with ribbon. Then hang them on the tree. Another thing i once did with younger kids is cut out a wreath shape from cardboard. Wrap it in green yarn and decorate with red beads here and there. Put a red bow at the top and it's a cute little berry wreath. Take Care and happy crafting! -- Jodie

Hand Ornaments
A fun idea that we do is trace all family members hands and cut them out of colored cardstock...one color per person. Then place them together with largest on the bottom, smallest on top and paper punch a hole into them. String a ribbon through them and write a message on the front. Be sure to include the year. It makes a great card/ornament for friends and family and over time you can see how your children grow. I write the name of each family member across one of the fingers of their paper hand.

Puzzle Ornaments
Our Christmas always is special because of all the cute little homemade decorations my girls have made over the years. Our tree is made almost completely made of homemade ornaments!!! It's very special to my girls. Here's just a couple of ideas they have done through the years---purchase a cheap puzzle, the kind with the mini pieces. Have the kids paint the pieces red and green using craft paint. Let them dry, then glue them (overlapping) in the shape of a wreath. You can also glue a picture in the center. Another idea is to buy popsicle sticks (the kinds with the grooves on the edges). Have the kids paint them white. When the paint is dry, apply Elmer's glue and have the kids sprinkle with glitter. After they're dry, glue 3 sticks together in the centers, making a snowflake! -- Dawn